The Skin Between Us: A Memoir of Race, Beauty, and Belonging (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Aunt Angela, New York, East Harlem (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Documentary filmmaker Ragusa, now 40, discusses her "complex heritage"—her mother is African-American, Native American, Chinese and German; her father is Italian-American—in a memoir that's refreshingly intent on creating compelling portraits and contextualizing family history rather than rehashing a personal, emotional journey. While there is talk of Ragusa's coming to terms with "in-between skin" and growing up "biracial" in color-divided 1960s and '70s New York City, this contemporary account of trying to fit in glints with vibrant portrayals of runaway slaves, turn-of-the-century Italian immigrants, interracial flappers, '60s civil rights activists, '70s "black is beautiful" models and '80s suburb seekers. Ragusa writes with a confident, curious narrative voice prone to poetic visual images; readers meet "honey-colored" children, see "blocks of burned-out, boarded-up buildings" and visit neighborhoods with "steam like hot hangover breath hissing from manhole covers." She links the various accounts by a central meditation on how "the stigma of skin color" interacts with ideas of beauty and belonging. The recurring discussion sometimes lacks structure and cohesion, but its modesty ensures that it always comes across as fresh, honest and important. (May)
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From Booklist

"What are you?" "Where are you from?" People have asked Ragusa those questions all her life, and the answers have never been clear. Her mother's family is African American, and her first known ancestor was a runaway slave woman. Her father's family is Italian American, descended from early forced immigrants. When she is growing up, her two grandmothers define her life as she travels between their Harlem homes, a few avenues from each other but worlds apart. She hears the family stories, stumbles on the secrets. Her mother and father tell very different versions of why they broke up. Candid about both the pain and the riches of being biracial, this memoir is just as riveting when Ragusa discusses the unreliability of memory, what is left out in the scraps of story inherited and overheard in every family. Whether she is discovering YA author Judy Blume or celebrating the myth of Persephone, who transforms herself between two worlds, the particulars of Ragusa's story reveal the universal anxiety about belonging and about finding a home in America. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.; 1 edition (May 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393058905
• ISBN-13: 978-0393058901
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #247,603 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars American Me, May 12, 2006

By	Lynee Gore (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Kym Ragusa has written a book that is destined to join not only the cannon of multicultural narrative, but that rare class of books that allows us to see ourselves as a reflection of one another. Ragusa takes us on a magical journey through the looking glass to examine racial and cultural identity from the inside out.

Not preachy, not trendy, not PC, and certainly not depressing, Ragusa's writing is delicate and personal, achingly vulnerable. Her prose are as beautiful and complex as the portraits she paints of herself and three generations of women in her family. When Ragusa interrogates the shape of her nose and the texture of her hair, I am reminded that in today's rush to perfectionism through plastic surgery, true beauty (like justice) can best be seen through closed eyes.

Lastly, in this time of growing anxiety over all things foreign, Ragusa teaches us that the American character is at heart multicultural. In reading her beautifully wrought memoir, I again learned that the skin between us can also be the bond between us.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars broken families in NJ, July 14, 2006

By	Maddalena "la_maddalena" (United States) - See all my reviews

I really enjoyed Kym's story. she accurately described the tough and gentle sides of the American Italian families I knew, with the hard to win love of the grandmother and the uncertain homes that both mom and dad provided. She does a great job of blending her memories into an interesting read. Her anguish and fears are quite spellbounding as the issue of her color dances throughout this book. I look forward to her next.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving, powerful, intelligent first book..., May 27, 2006

By	J. Tchen (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A New York Harlem memoir written by the daughter of a light-skinned African American mom and dark skinned Sicilian father and the difficult and loving relations with her two grandmothers. Written with love and deep understanding where the tough questions are taken on and worked through. Evokes a feel for Harlem's changes and the real (pre-gentrified) life of the city. Engaging--couldn't put it down! This is her first book and I look forward to her next. I believe she'll be able to write either fiction or non-fiction with equal skill and verve.